Breaking the Chain
Breaking the Chain is the third episode of the eighteenth series of the popular ITV crime drama Midsomer Murders and originally aired 27th January 2016. Synopsis An international cycling competition comes to the Midsomer village of Burwood Mantle. When the race leader is murdered, DCI Barnaby and DS Nelson find themselves drawn into a ruthlessly competitive world of blackmail, bribery and bloodshed where winning comes at any cost. Plot Cyclist Greg Eddon is killed after winning the local leg of a national race, beating team mate Mitch McCordell at the last minute. Mitch's father Des, who owns the DJM racing stable tells Barnaby the race is make or break for them but there are clearly factions as Mitch's brother Aiden had sent threatening texts to Greg after he was seen kissing Aiden's girlfriend Amber. Local environmentalist Gerry Bleacher opposes the races, claiming that people die because of them and organizer and pub landlady Mary Appleton receives messages accusing her of murder. Des admits that DJM's sponsorship depends on Mitch's continuing success as the company is cash strapped whilst Reece Dexter, who runs rival team Ravondale, accuses Des of corruption and persuades Aiden to cycle for his stable. Another murder follows before Barnaby is able to save a further victim and identify who, in the cycling world, was guilty of literally breaking the chain. Cast *Neil Dudgeon as DCI John Barnaby *Gwilym Lee as DS Charlie Nelson *Fiona Dolman as Sarah Barnaby *Manjinder Virk as Dr. Kam Karimore *Edward Akrout as Damien Lamerat *Sophia Di Martino as Amber Layard *Hari Dhillon as Reece Dexter *Rebecca Grant as Joanna Stockerton *Richard Graham as Gerry Bleacher *Ben Lamb as Aiden McCordell *Joe McGann as Jez Oliver *Derek Riddell as Des McCordell *Tom York as Mitch McCordell *Tessa Peake-Jones as Mary Appleton *Jack Staddon as Greg Eddon *Olivia Vinall as Kim Fosse *Raj Awasti as Pub Go-er (uncredited) *Kishore Bhatt as Businessman (uncredited) *Hannah Blamires as Police Officer (uncredited) *Bern Collaço as Police Officer (uncredited) *Pamela Betsy Cooper as Event Guest (uncredited) *Chris Cowlin as Police Officer (uncredited) *Aimie Drinkwater as Team Member (uncredited) *Susan Fordham as Village Fair Guest (uncredited) *Stephen Hawke as Midsomer Police Officer (uncredited) *Michael Haydon as Police Officer (uncredited) *Ty Hurley as Cyclists' Support Team (uncredited) *Nina Kumar as Pub Go-er (uncredited) *Bharat Mistri as Businessman (uncredited) *Adrian Mitchell as Race Official (uncredited) *Mike Ray as CID Officer (uncredited) *Ruth Shaw as Auction Guest (uncredited) *Faith Tarby as Event Guest (uncredited) *Vic Waghorn as Village Fair Guest (uncredited) *Anick Wiget as Cyclists' Support Team (uncredited) *Chris Wilson Police Officer (uncredited) Galleries Body Count Greg-eddon.jpg|Greg Eddon While on training bike, a wrench was thrust into the spokes of the rear wheel, throwing him off the bike and causing him to strike his head. Then he was injected with a fatal dose of a powerful neurotoxin (clostridium botulinum) which caused respiratory failure. Aiden-mccordell.jpg|Aiden McCordell Struck on head with a bicycle chain, and then compressed air was forced into his lungs, rupturing them. Supporting Cast Damien-lamerat.jpg|Damien Lamerat Amber-layard.jpg|Amber Layard Reece-dexter.jpg|Reece Dexter Joanna-stockerton.jpg|Joanna Stockerton Gerry-bleacher.jpg|Gerry Bleacher Jez-oliver.jpg|Jez Oliver Des-mccordell.jpg|Des McCordell Mitch-mccordell.jpg|Mitch McCordell Mary-appleton.jpg|Mary Appleton Kim-fosse.jpg|Kim Fosse Episode Images Breaking-the-chain-01.jpg Breaking-the-chain-02.jpg Breaking-the-chain-03.jpg Breaking-the-chain-04.jpg Breaking-the-chain-05.jpg Breaking-the-chain-06.jpg Breaking-the-chain-07.jpg Notes The following actors and actresses who appeared in this episode have also appeared in the following episodes *Tessa Peake-Jones - Faithful unto Death *Richard Graham - Talking to the Dead *Pamela Betsy Cooper - Schooled in Murder, The Christmas Haunting, The Killings of Copenhagen, The Dagger Club and Murder by Magic *Vic Waghorn - The Flying Club, The Dagger Club and The Sting of Death *Bharat Mistri - The Dagger Club *Bern Collaço - The Incident at Cooper Hill, Saints and Sinners, Harvest of Souls and Crime and Punishment Category:Series Eighteen episodes